Nayau is an island in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, a member of the Lau

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

. It was the ancestral island of the Vuanirewa Clan, who were later exiled to the nearby island of

Lakeba Lakeba (pronounced ) is an island in Fiji’s Southern Lau Islands, Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the List of islands of Fiji, tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers. ...

. There are three villages located on the island: Salia, Narociva and Liku.

History

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...

visited the island in 1840. In 1979 Hurricane Meli struck the island, causing severe damage to two villages and leading to the deaths of several people. As of 2009 the island has around 400 persons.

Economy

The main export of the island is

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

, derived from

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

trees.

Geography

The island is ringed by shallow reefs. Its coastal shores are thought to have been formed by storm-wave depositions. It is located at 17°58'39"S 179°3'13"W, northwest of Lakeba.

References

Islands of Fiji Lau Islands {{Fiji-geo-stub